About YGFYatima Group Fund is dedicated to improving the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children in Tanzania by providing them with access to shelter, food, clean water, education and medical care. We are dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and HIV/AIDS infections by providing education for these children.

YGF was officially approved by IRS as a tax-exempt charitable 501(c)3 corporation in 2004.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- December 2013

2013 was a busy year for Yatima Group Fund, YGF. One university student, Angelmary Nyetabula from YGTF, continues her undergraduate studies at Western Oregon University. James Kisanga, the son of Gladness Kisanga from the Maasai village, finished his exchange program at Blanchet High School in Salem. He is enrolled in secondary school in Arusha and will become a doctor. The medical exchange program with Mt. Meru Hospital continued to do well. This year we had Dr. Tracy Taggart, a surgeon from Salem Hospital, and Rachel Weirch, a neonatal nurse practitioner, come to work at Mt. Meru Hospital. We had a group of 9 medical volunteers serve in Haiti with YGF Medical Teams. Cassidy Huun, previous medical volunteer, and Angelmary returned to Dar Es Salaam to do a research project on HIV at FASDO.

YGTF ORPHANAGE CENTER IN DAR ES SALAAM (WITH 180 CHILDREN)

LAND
They are continuing to develop the contiguous 21 acres into a productive farm unit. They have begun to develop the land with fruits including bananas, mangos, pineapples and citrus fruits. They have been planting vegetables on a rotating basis. The diet of the children has improved tremendously with the addition of these fruits and vegetables. The pig project is going well and currently has 100 pigs. The Vodacom Foundation had generously donated the funds to build a proper building for the pigs. The goal will be to sell these pigs to generate money for operations. Since about 50% of the children are Muslims the children will not eat the pigs.

EDUCATION
The children are all attending school so far. We have been able to scrape together money to allow 10 children to attend secondary school and the university. As the students mature and grow older some of them are attending university to get further degrees in education. Some of them have joined the military. Some of them have been able to find jobs. Educational costs continue to be the biggest need at the moment and for the foreseeable future.

CLEAN WATER
They have one pump at the center for clean water. It pumps water not only for the center but also for the surrounding village thereby providing some operating funds to run the center.

YGTF GOALS FOR YEAR 2014

School fees are always an item that needs constant input. It costs about $100/month for the average student for secondary school. This includes school uniforms and food while the student is at school. We are developing a better system for making donations to specific students once our new website is improved.

RAFIKI CENTER
his orphan center is located out in the Tanzanite mining district in Mererani village. Currently there are 36 children living in the center. Before they had been living in a 2 rooms mud hut. The well continues to produce up to 4,000 gallons of water per hour. The original pump was replaced with a new one with a locked protective structure. The children have plenty of water to drink and bathe with. They are able to sell water to the local villagers as a source of ongoing money to support the center. We are currently working with them on educational and vocational projects. This project was made possible through a joint venture with Catherine Mulvale of Canada. Vodacom built a large building to house the chicken project. It is expected that the water project will allow the Rafiki to become self-sustaining.

MERERANI WATER SYSTEM #2
We were able to develop another water system in the village. This bore hole was good and the water production was high at 4,000 gals/hr. This project was done in cooperation with the elders of the village to benefit another group in the village. This is not connected to an orphan center. Each one of these water projects costs about $25,000 from start to finish. This clean water project continues to generate money to support the local group and improve health outcomes for the children in the area.

KIKATITI CENTER
This is a 5 acre plot of land that was bought by OFF. It is located about 20 miles outside of Arusha. At present it is lying unused and we are in the process of finding a suitable buyer for the land. Until the land is bought it is being farmed and raising crops of corn and beans. This food is then donated to various centers.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT CENTER.
We purchased a plot of land in Arusha with hopes of building a small vocational center upon it. We have developed it a bit and now have a fence and a guardhouse. We would like to build a center for community empowerment and for computer and English language teaching. We are in the process of developing a business plan for the center. Our new program director, Dorosella Bishanga, has secured funding for 30 children to be in a computer center in the main office for OFF. This will be part of the center going forward as we develop. She has also secured funding for a new clean water project. We are considering building a small unit on our land to manufacture affordable wheelchairs for special needs patients.

OPERATING COSTS FOR OFF.
Both of the programs need to cover operating costs. This includes costs for fuel, vehicle upkeep, rent, and staff salaries. This amount is about $15,000/yr. We need an estimated $30,000 to develop the initial building for the wheelchair program.

MT. MERU HOSPITAL.
Arusha has 2 pediatricians for a population of 1.5 million people. The hospital is a government funded institution and is very poor in standards compared to our hospitals here in the US. Our pediatric volunteer program with Dr. Mariam Murtadha, the senior pediatrician there, continues to do well. The pediatric needs for the hospital are huge. We are in the process of developing an exchange program with Oregon Health Sciences University and Western Oregon University. The hope is to formalize the educational experience for medical, physician assistant and nursing students who wish to have the opportunity to learn about tropical medicine. The challenge of delivering health care with limited diagnostic and therapeutic tools is huge. Interested medical professional should contact Dr. Lace jklace@childhoodhealth.com

LENGASTI MAASAI VILLAGE PROJECT.
OFF continues to work with the village on a variety of projects. It is located about 80 kms away from Arusha. They had no dependable water supply and electricity for a total population of about 8,000 people. They are very interested in transforming their village from a very nomadic life style into one that offers some hope for the future. We raised enough money to build 2 large dams and 2 small dams to capture rainwater. In November they had a big rainfall and the dams all filled up with water. The goal is to have this water available to the village for 1 year to sustain them. We continue to have medical clinics at their dispensary. We bring our own medicines with us while we are there to ensure that our patients are able to get the meds that we prescribe. In a typical clinic day we will see over 150 patients. It presents a real challenge to everyone to help them transition into the 21st century. The village is going thru some reorganization. There is a children’s center located in the village that has been funded by donors from Norway and Denmark. This will serve to ensure some of the high risk children in the village get enough food to eat and to provide some early educational opportunities. They have 11 children in the center now and would like to serve about 30 children.

OLKAKOLA MAASAI VILLAGE PROJECT.
We have begun to develop a medical outreach program in this village located about 1 hour from Arusha. We want to do a program to reduce malnutrition with special focus on rickets while we also do outreach medical clinics. We see about 300 patients in these clinics.

WEBSITE.www.orphansfoundationfund.org. Our website is up and running with updates done on a regular basis. Please visit the website to see more of our work in progress. We are able to do online donations.

FASDO.
We have been asked to assist in the development of Faru Arts and Sports Development Organization, FASDO, to assist school children with an arts and sports program in Dar Es Salaam. This program will promote education in high risk children in a very poor area of Dar Es Salaam through the use of arts and sports. These children are at high risk for school failure and subsequent continuation of poverty which is so rampant in Tanzania. The arts and sports programs will help the children to master basic critical thinking skills and to allow them to succeed so that they build on these successes to continue in school. The center is developing a media center to produce movies and support other projects to help educate children about HIV/AIDS. The program coordinator, Lilian Nabora, completed her Masters Degree in International Governance and Development Policy from Centre Européen de Recherches Internationales et Stratégiques. UNICEF has visited the center and has pledged to help with funding. We need financial help to develop the media center and to develop the programs. Initial budget needs are $25,000/year. We have had 2 US students and other international students work at the center. We have signed a contract with Catherine Mulvale’s group from Canada to develop classrooms in a shipping container concept. These shipping containers will be setup as stand alone classrooms to provide teaching in a variety of areas. Visit us at www.fasdotz.org .

YGF MEDICAL TEAMS.
This past year we had 9 medical professionals work in Haiti in a remote village, Leon, on the west coast. We partnered with an ongoing program with other volunteers from Washington, Oregon, and California. Everyone felt that the experience was worthwhile and pledged to return in 2014. In 2014 we will be going to do medical work in Peru. The group is forming now. Interested medical volunteers should contact Dr. Lace.
We will be partnering with Dr. David Shaw, an orthopedic surgeon in Salem, to do a 2 week program in Mt. Meru Hospital providing surgical care for special needs children with orthopedic problems. This is planned for October, 2014.
Times are tough here in the US. It is very hard to donate money, time or goods to some faraway place like Tanzania when the need is so great here at home. The level of poverty in Tanzania is much worse than what we experience here in the US. Likewise the impact of this extreme poverty on children is very severe. We have made a difference for some of the children there with our outreach programs. Please keep us in your thoughts and continue to donate as you can.
Asante sana (thank you very much in Swahili) for all your support over the years. You have made a tremendous difference in the lives of these children and their caretakers. We are eternally grateful to you for all your support. All donations are tax deductible.

Dr. James Lace has formed a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation to accept donations in the US. You can now donate securely online using your credit/debit card, or directly from you checking or savings account.